I thought about these while climbing the Kogelberg this morning. It was a beautifully clear day but with a frosty blast following yesterday\u2019s snow. Because I had planned ahead and, over time, purchased gear that would allow me to be comfortable outdoors irrespective of the weather, I couldn\u2019t give myself the excuse of not going out in the cold or even in the pelting rain.<\/p>\n
It seems hard to believe that I would ever say something like this but I have found it true. It is better to climb the mountain in the rain and wind than to spend the time in the gym, or worse, not be active.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
My body has become so used to the feeling of exerting itself that on days when I don\u2019t, I don\u2019t really feel like I\u2019ve woken up properly.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a fan of gear from Columbia Sportswear<\/a> as theirs were the only jackets that managed to keep me warm when I first shed weight. Now, although I also have thermal undies from Woolies, I still prefer my Columbia base-layers as the mirror-ball fabric reflects my body heat and keeps me more comfortable than regular thermal.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019m not telling you to buy Columbia but I am telling you to get waterproof boots and a jacket that you can zip right up to your neck along with gloves and a hat that will cover your ears.<\/p>\n Because the shirt and pants I wear are made for hard-wearing excursions and I get sweaty while in them, they\u2019re washed every second day, at least. I mention this as you want to have\u00a0 no-iron gear you can wash and wear without it falling apart. The thing about technical fabrics is much more than just a marketing ploy. I know this as in Plett I did the Robberg hike wearing a beautiful, organic cotton t-shirt which after about 30 minutes was chafing me as it was drenched in sweat. I would have enjoyed that hike a whole lot more wearing a moisture-wicking garment.<\/p>\n You also need to find gear that allows you to vent as you get warmer. My jacket has velcro cuffs to adjust how much air I allow in or out. Something with a full zip is also better than a pullover. If you can find a jacket with zipped back vents I\u2019d recommend that, too.<\/p>\n Finally, look out for a jacket that has deep pockets as an hour into your climb you will be too warm to wear your scarf and gloves and will need somewhere to stow them.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t give yourself the opportunity to find reasons why you can\u2019t get out and exercise.<\/p>\n You may also want to look at two previous posts about outdoor gear, this one about using the right knife for the job<\/a> or this one about shopping on sales<\/a> – I always do.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the 12 Steps How to Stick to a Healthy Eating plan I talk about testing the reasons you think you might fail and planning ahead to succeed. I thought about these while climbing the Kogelberg this morning. It was a beautifully clear day but …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[176,21,35,49,70,154],"class_list":["post-944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weight_loss","tag-12-steps","tag-brian-berkman","tag-columbia","tag-exercise","tag-kogelberg","tag-weight-loss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianberkman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianberkman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianberkman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianberkman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianberkman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=944"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brianberkman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":946,"href":"https:\/\/brianberkman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944\/revisions\/946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianberkman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianberkman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianberkman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"In](\"http:\/\/brianberkman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Columbia-blog-pic.jpg\")
<\/a>